The present invention relates to the dispensing of disposable cups. More particularly, the invention provides a dispenser for rimmed, stacked disposable cups, such dispenser being able to handle cups having size variation, between one stack and the next, of over 2:1.
In US Pat. Nos. 5,427,273 and 5,884,803 the present applicant has disclosed dispensers for disposable cups. They hold tapered deformable cups in a stacked column, the lowest cup of the stack being exposed so that it can be gripped by hand and removed when required for use. Such dispensers save manpower, protect the cups against dirt and dispersal, and provide convenient means for ensuring that people using a water cooler or consuming beer or soft drinks have available as many fresh cups as needed.
The above patents describe dispensers having two or three wedge-like protrusions engaging the lowest cup, said protrusions being rigidly attached to the inner wall of the dispenser body. Dispensers made according to the above specifications have been found to operate very satisfactorily when handling disposable cups of diameters within their range, such cups typically having having a rim diameter of between about 6.4 and 7.4 cm.
There, however, exists both smaller cups and larger cups which are also in widespread use. A typical small cup has an outside diameter of about 4.5 cm. and prior art dispensers able to carry cups of a rim diameter of about 6.4-7.4 cm. are totally incapable of handling such small cups.
Bottled water companies throughout the world would be very much interested in having a dispenser suitable for all size cups which would enable them to offer their customers a single dispenser capable of dispensing cups of various rim sizes, whether said cups be flat or cone shaped and made of plastic or paper, without having to change the cup dispenser.
It is of course possible to redesign a prior-art dispenser to handle smallerr cups, but such dispenser would then not be able to handle the larger cups. Thus users wishing to dispense both sizes would need two different dispensers.
It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to obviate the disadvantages of prior art cup dispensers and to provide a dispenser capable of handling a wide size range without requiring the user to make any adjustments. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dispenser which can handle cups of various capacities and rim sizes.
The present invention achieves the above objects by providing a cup dispenser for sequentially dispensing individual, disposable, rimmed cups having diameters varying from each other by several centimeters, from a stacked column thereof, comprising a cup-retaining and dispensing body provided with a tubular opening having a lower edge and with retaining means consisting essentially of at least two opposed flexible tongue-like members descending from the inner wall thereof, each of said members being subdivided into two portions, a first portion of said first member, in conjunction with the opposed first portion of said second member underriding and supporting the rim of a lowermost cup of said stacked column placed therein, and a second portion of said first member, in conjunction with the opposed second portion of said second member, simultaneously overriding the rim of said lowermost cup, and underriding and supporting the rim of the next to lowermost cup in said stack, whereby said pair of first portions retain said lowermost cup until the removal thereof from said dispenser, while said pair of second portions of said opposed flexible tongue-like members support and retain the next to lowermost cup during the removal of said lowermost cup from said dispenser.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a cup dispenser wherein said opposed flexible tongue-like members converge towards each other in the direction of said lower edge.
In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a dispenser wherein each of said portions is provided with an inwardly-directed lip. In preferred embodiments of the present invention said retaining means consist essentially of two opposed flexible tongue-like members, wherein said members are substantially diametrically opposed within said opening.
In a variation of said embodiment said retaining means consist essentially of two opposed flexible tongue-like members, wherein a major part of both of said members are positioned within the same imaginary semi-annular co-planar segment of said opening.
Yet further characteristics of preferred forms will become apparent from the description.
It will thus be realized that the novel device of the present invention can dispense both large and small cups due to the flexibility of the tongue-like members. No special mechanism is required for this purpose, as the dispenser is manufactured as a unitary plastic molding.
The present application details only the main body of the dispenser. It is to be understood that a complete unit is further equipped with an attached tubular cup container which holds the cup stack and prevents the entry of dirt. Also, means are usually provided for convenient attachment of the dispenser to a vertical surface, such as a wall or a side of a water cooler. These items are included although not referred to in the present text.
The invention will now be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments with reference to the following illustrative figures so that it may be more fully understood.
With specific reference now to the figures in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.